Box or can.



P. WESTERBECK.

B0X on GAN, A APPLICATION FILED APEJG, 1908.

' 936,841. Patented 001:. 12,1909.

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FREDERICK'WESTERBECK, YOlli ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

` BOX OR- CAN.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed. April 16, 1908. Serial No. 427,324.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK WESTER- ncx, a citizen of the UnitedStates of America, residing in the city of St. Louis and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Boxes orCans, of which the following is a full, clear, and

' exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawing,forming part of this specification.

My invention relates to sheet metal boxes or cans, and it has for itsobject to provide a simple and eliicient means by which the lids of suchboxes or cans may be readily separated from the bodies to which they arefitted.

The improvement is more particularly intended for use in boxesordinarily employed as containers for shoe blacking, but it may be usedin-V boxes or cans designed to hold various other materials.

Figure I is a perspective view of a sheet metal box constructed inaccordance with my improvement. Fig. II is a horizontal section takenthrough the box shown in Fig. I at the location of the lid liftingdevice. Fig. III is a vertical cross section through the box shown inFig. I. Fig. IV is a perspective view of the lid lifting device separatefrom the box with its stem illustrated in full lines as it appearsbefore it is applied to the box, and in full lines and dotted lines, asit appears after it is applied to the box and put in condition forservice. Fig. V is a vertical section of a box with the lid liftingdevice shown in a different location from that in which'it appears inthe con-V struction illustrated in Figs. I to III inclusive. Fig. VI isa top or plan view of a fragment of the box shown in Fig. V. Fig. VII isin part a top or plan view, and in part a horizontal section of anothervaried location of the lid lifting device. Fig. VIII is a verticalsection taken through the box shown in Fig. VII.

In the accompanying drawings: 1 designates the body of a sheet metalbox, and 2 the lid of said box. The body of the box, as shown mostclearly in Fig. VII does not extend to the top of the lid when the partsare assembled, and consequently the flange of.

the lid is in part located above the upper edge of the wall of the boxbody. -To provide for the application and operation lof my lid liftingdevice, I produce in the flange of thebox lid a perforation 3 aroundwhich, at the interior of the flange, is a bearing neck 4 that may beproduced by punching the ma` terial of the flange inwardly when theperforation 3 is formed. Around the perforation 3' is a flat andoutwardly projecting boss 5.

6 designates the handle or nger piece of my lidlifting device, and 7 isthe stem of said device which projects through the perforation 3. Thelid lifting device is originally produced as seen in Fig. IV, so thatthe stem extends in a straight line from the handle, in order that itmay be readily inserted through the perforation 3 in the flange of thebox lid. Then, after the stem has been so introduced, its free end isbent backwardly toward the handle 6 to provide a lever arm 8 which willoccupy a position over the upper end of the box body wall to impingeagainst the edge of said box body wall when the handle 6 is turned ineither one direction or the opposite direction. It will be seen that byrotating the handle 6 while itis held between the fingers of a personshand, the stem 7 may be so rotated that the lever arm 8 will pressagainst the upper end of the box body wall and by fulcruming thereon,the lid of the box will be caused to be separated from the body of thebox, due to the stein of the lid lifting device having a fixed pivotalmounting in the flange of the lid and the wall of the box body offeringresistance to the rotation of the lever arm of the stem 7.

In the operation of the lid lifting device, the neck 4 at the interiorof the lid flange affords an elongated bearing for the stem 7, and theflat boss at the exterior of the lid flange affords a flat bearing forthe handle 6, thereby preventing the lid lifting device from wabbling,so that the lever arm 8 is maintained in its proper position above theupper edge of the box body wall.

In Figs. V and, VI, I have shown a variation in the positioning of mylid lifting device, whereby it is rendered applicable to boxes or cansin which the body walls extend to the tops of the lids that are appliedto them. In this construction the lid 2 is fprovided at its top with abulge 2, thereby Patented Oct. 12, 1909.

the box body la extends to the top of the lid 2, and the box body Wallis provided at its upper end with a notch lb adapted to receive thestein 7*i and its lever arni Sa, in order that the lever arin may berotated in engagement with the upper end of the box body Wall,notwithstanding the fact that said box body Wall extends 1n the inain toa position immediately beneath the box lid.

I claim:

l. The combination With a box or can body, and a lid fitted to saidbody, of a single piece lid lifting device comprising a handle at theexterior of the lid, and a stem `extending from said handle through saidlid; -said 'Stein being provided Within the lid vwith a lever arm bentlaterally and back- Wa-rdly relative to the stem and toward said lidacross the upper edge of the box or can body, substantially as setforth.

The combination of a box or can body, a lid fitted to said body andprovided with a perforation Surrounded by an inwardly extending neck,and :1 lid lifting device eo1nprising a handle, and a Stein; said steinextending directly through said lid from Said handle, being rotatablySeated in said perforation and neck and being provided with a backwardlybent lever arin extending to Ward Said lid across the upper edge of thebox or can body Wall, Substantially as Set forth.

FREDERICK VVES-TERBECK. ln the presence of- LILY Rosi',- BLANCHE HOGAN.

